I was surprized to find a Fleetwood Mac Video from their recording of Everyway in 1987 that uses as it's visual story line (even though the lyrics don't lend themselves at all it) the story of the Highwayman and the Inkeeper's Daughter, the same story that Loreena later told in The Highwayman in her Book of Secrets Album. It is just interesting that two very different musical sources would choose the same story, but one for musical inspiration, the other for visual interest. What is the history and origin of the story? Thanks!

Darrell

On Facebook they post this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkzLV2wi9cg

I don't like the song... but is video based on The Highwayman..

quote:

Originally posted by Elizabeth Tudor:
Thanks, Gina, very kind of you.

I've already done the beginning and the end of the song. I'm quite satisfied with the ending, but all in all it is quite difficult work to translate verse into prose... I always seem to fall back into the rhythm of the poem LOREENA'S rhythm, that is... Same with "Stolen Child" - I had to practise very long until I could read that poem aloud with my OWN stressing

Cheers,
Anni

Hi Anni! How is The Highwayman coming along? It's been awhile since I've read this thread, I would love to know how it turns or turned out.


Hugs,
G

Thanks, Gina, very kind of you.

I've already done the beginning and the end of the song. I'm quite satisfied with the ending, but all in all it is quite difficult work to translate verse into prose... I always seem to fall back into the rhythm of the poem LOREENA'S rhythm, that is... Same with "Stolen Child" - I had to practise very long until I could read that poem aloud with my OWN stressing

Cheers,
Anni

I wish you all the luck in the universe!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Elizabeth Tudor:
Hello,

I actually was amazed to find out that Ms McKennitt's version is a shortened version of the original poem.

Alfred Noyes' original poem is even more dramatic: There is Tim, the stable boy, wo overhears the conversation between the Highwayman and Bess and, because he is in love with Bess himself, gives the Highwayman away too the King's troops.

Personally, I find this poem very facsinating. The language is so rich of imagery - when I close my eyes I see myself inthis landscape.

I also like how Ms. McKennitt set the song to music. The music reflects the horses's pace, the violence of the storm and the tragic story of the lovers. Well done!

At the moment I am working on my own version of the Highwayman. It's going to be a trasltion to German in prose. I hope that an aquaintance of mine will illustrate it and then it might become a book. Wish me luck...

Cheers,
Anni

The way I heard it, Alfred Noyes was camping with friends, and he made the story there by the campfire, and put it on paper once he returned. Of course, many good stories come from around a campfire!

Hello,

I actually was amazed to find out that Ms McKennitt's version is a shortened version of the original poem.

Alfred Noyes' original poem is even more dramatic: There is Tim, the stable boy, wo overhears the conversation between the Highwayman and Bess and, because he is in love with Bess himself, gives the Highwayman away too the King's troops.

Personally, I find this poem very facsinating. The language is so rich of imagery - when I close my eyes I see myself inthis landscape.

I also like how Ms. McKennitt set the song to music. The music reflects the horses's pace, the violence of the storm and the tragic story of the lovers. Well done!

At the moment I am working on my own version of the Highwayman. It's going to be a trasltion to German in prose. I hope that an aquaintance of mine will illustrate it and then it might become a book. Wish me luck...

Cheers,
Anni

quote:

I'm often amazed at how well LM's storytelling through song can be. Even the instrumentals are thought provoking and seem to take you away to the exact place she intended you to go.

Not many artists can do that. I've read recently about comparisons between Loreena and Enya. I have a couple of Enya CDs and frankly I can't see the similarities. While I think Enya is a well talented artist; her music simply doesn't do to me what Loreena's does.

Sometimes I wish the rest of the world would acknowledge her music and appreciate her more. Than I think nah, let's just keep her to ourselves.

Springwolf

Those are my feelings exactly, except I do enjoy Fleetwood Mac.
I fell in love with 'The Highwayman' when I heard it as it had a great pull in my heart and after talking with a friend, we wanted to turn it into a movie. (We were sick and tired of all the dumb movies there were out at that time) We wanted it to be the way Albert Noyes wrote it and we have no Hollywood contacts to do anything about it, so, I thought that since the poem shouldn't be changed, but if the characters were reincarnated, they had to be different, so I started dreaming of who the highwayman and Bess could be in this day and age. I started writing, 'Zylophila'.
The hard part was how these two meet up again and how they felt towards each other at the moment of first glance. That night Stevie Nicks sang to me, 'Silver Spring' and that got the story flowing. The second chapter was easy, I used Barracuda as an example. Heart was ripped off by a manager and before they opened for Led Zepplin many years ago, they wrote Barracuda and so, chapter two was born.
Many songs influenced that book to where I thought I could turn it into a musical, but nah, one thing at a time.
I came upon Fleetwood Mac's, 'The Highwayman' and read the lyrics and listened as Stevie Nicks sang, but thought it had nothing to do with Albert Noyes' Highwayman and now I have searched my house for two weeks and can not find that cd or dvd at all.
None of the many stories going around and around my head would have been born without Loreena singing, 'The Highwayman'. As I have said before, many times before, I have deep gratitude for her.
Health and beaty,
Gina

quote:

don't know if you've ever seen the Fleetwood Mac video for "Everyway" but it is striking to me how much better Loreena's lyrical storytelling is

Hey Darrell,
I'm not a big Fleetwood Mac fan. Other than some of their hit songs, I haven't really listened or watched them much. I'm thinking in this case, that might be a good thing.

I'm often amazed at how well LM's storytelling through song can be. Even the instrumentals are thought provoking and seem to take you away to the exact place she intended you to go.

Not many artists can do that. I've read recently about comparisons between Loreena and Enya. I have a couple of Enya CDs and frankly I can't see the similarities. While I think Enya is a well talented artist; her music simply doesn't do to me what Loreena's does.

Sometimes I wish the rest of the world would acknowledge her music and appreciate her more. Than I think nah, let's just keep her to ourselves.

Many Blessings,
Spring
"A teacher doesn't teach, until the student is ready to ask the question."

The Highwayman song was my favorite from the first cd of Loreena's I bought~ the book of secrets. I heard The Mummer's Dance on mp3 & had to buy the cd straightaway. Then I bought 2 more of Loreena's cds the next day!! One was LIVE in Paris & Toronto. Comparing the 2 I noticed that there is an additional cello on the studio version...a contracello as I recall. I gave the book of secrets to a girlfriend. I'm gonna have to get anuzza copy!
The poem by Alfred Noyes has a verse that describes a pathetic little man who is envious of Bess's love for the Highwayman & it is he who brings the soldiers in to get rid of him. Altho' this does make the storyline more clear in a way, it's cut from Loreena's recording & it's notably cut from an earlier recording by Phil Ochs, a folk singer. I liked Phil Ochs when I heard one of his records back in the 70s...but I haven't heard his version. I would like to.
I've been wondering how a Hard Rock version would sound. I've always wanted to form sort of a Heavy Metal Fleetwood Mac type of band.
The Fleetwood Mac video is of the song Everywhere (not Everyway) & you can find it on youtube.com
There is a glimpse of the first line of the poem.
The action is clearly based on the poem, including the verse omitted by Loreena.
The video sure doesn't come close to what I picture absorbed in Loreena's arrangement!!!

'Twas wonderful to see flawlessly performrd LIVE thrice!!!

Thanks for the info on the poem! I don't know if you've ever seen the Fleetwood Mac video for "Everyway" but it is striking to me how much better Loreena's lyrical storytelling is so much richer than the video, in fact the video, without any an associated lyrics, comes across as a series of confusing images and even misleading images since the accompanying Fleetwood Mac lyrics aren't related to the storyline of the video at all. I believe they were just trying to be "stylish". At any rate, having never actually read the actual poem, I still feel, that through Loreena's lyrics and music, that I have I have been a bystander to it all. She has a wonderful gift for blending story and evocotive music.

Thanks again.

Darrell

quote:

Originally posted by SpringWolf:
Hello Darrell,

The Highwayman is based on the famous narrative poem by Alfred Noyes. As I understand it, the title character, is a bold masked bandit of 18th-century England, who robs from the rich and gives (a little) to the poor. He is loved by Bess, the lovely daughter of an innkeeper. King George's men camp themselves in the inn awaiting the Highwayman's appearance. So that Bess won't tip off her lover, they tie her up with a musket aimed at her heart. Bess courageously manages to fire the musket just as the Highwayman approaches, saving his life at the cost of her own. Upon the subsequent death of the Highwayman, he and Bess are reunited in the Hereafter.

Many Blessings,
Spring
"A teacher doesn't teach, until the student is ready to ask the question."

Hello Darrell,

The Highwayman is based on the famous narrative poem by Alfred Noyes. As I understand it, the title character, is a bold masked bandit of 18th-century England, who robs from the rich and gives (a little) to the poor. He is loved by Bess, the lovely daughter of an innkeeper. King George's men camp themselves in the inn awaiting the Highwayman's appearance. So that Bess won't tip off her lover, they tie her up with a musket aimed at her heart. Bess courageously manages to fire the musket just as the Highwayman approaches, saving his life at the cost of her own. Upon the subsequent death of the Highwayman, he and Bess are reunited in the Hereafter.

Many Blessings,
Spring
"A teacher doesn't teach, until the student is ready to ask the question."